PLANNING AND MANAGEMENT OF BIKE SHARING SYSTEMS FOR SUSTAINABLE URBAN TRANSPORT: KONYA, KAYSERİ AND İSTANBUL CASES A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES OF MIDDLE EAST TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY BY CİHAN ERÇETİN IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF SCIENCE IN THE PROGRAM OF URBAN POLICY PLANNING AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS JUNE 2014 i Approval of the Graduate School of Social Sciences Prof. Dr. Meliha Altunışık Director I certify that this thesis satisfies all the requirements as a thesis for the degree of Master of Science. Assist. Prof. Dr. Mustafa Kemal Bayırbağ Head of Department This is to certify that we have read this thesis and that in our opinion it is fully adequate, in scope and quality, as a thesis for the degree of Master of Science. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ela Babalık Sutcliffe Supervisor Examining Committee Members Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mehmet Adnan Barlas (METU,CRP) Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ela Babalık Sutcliffe (METU,CRP) Assoc. Prof. Dr. Hüseyin Çağatay Keskinok (METU,UPL) ii PLAGIARISM I hereby declare that all information in this document has been obtained and presented in accordance with academic rules and ethical conduct. I also declare that, as required by these rules and conduct, I have fully cited and referenced all material and results that are not original to this work. Name, Last name: Cihan Erçetin Signature : iii ABSTRACT PLANNING AND MANAGEMENT OF BIKE SHARING SYSTEMS FOR SUSTAINABLE URBAN TRANSPORT: KONYA, KAYSERİ AND İSTANBUL CASES Erçetin, Cihan M.S.c., Urban Policy Planning and Local Governments, Supervisor: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ela Babalık Sutcliffe June, 2014, 230 pages Considering the problems of traffic congestion, energy dependency and air pollution depending on excessive use of private car, different transport alternatives to ensure sustainable urban transportation have come into question. Particularly in some European countries, bicycle use, which does not create any pollution and uses resources and road space at a minimum, has appeared as a sustainable alternative for urban transportation and besides, recently bike-sharing systems have contributed to this process positively. Bike-sharing systems, which introduce a number of bike stations in urban areas to encourage citizens to take a bike from one station and then leave it at any other one, further promotes the usage of bikes for urban transport purposes. The system has numerous examples today in Europe, Asia, and North and South America. It has recently been launched in some Turkish cities too, while many other cities are planning to introduce this system. iv This research analyzes the planning and operating approaches in bike-sharing implementations. The worldwide experiences in this new approach are reviewed, and best practices in the world will be studied with a view to reveal some criteria for the successful planning and operation of these systems in Turkey. The first three bike-sharing systems, those in Kayseri, Konya and Istanbul will be assessed. The underlying objectives are to provide a better understanding of the current experience in bike-sharing systems in Turkey, to reveal the strengths and weaknesses of the systems implemented so far, and to provide recommendations for the planning, implementation and operation of future systems. Keywords: Bike-sharing, cycling, sustainable transport, planning. v ÖZ SÜRDÜRÜLEBİLİR ULAŞIM İÇİN PAYLAŞIMLI BİSİKLET SİSTEMLERİNİN PLANLAMA VE İŞLETMESİ: KONYA, KAYSERİ VE İSTANBUL ÖRNEKLERİ Erçetin, Cihan Yüksek Lisans, Kentsel Politika Planlaması ve Yerel Yönetimler, Tez Yöneticisi: Doç. Dr. Ela Babalık Sutcliffe Haziran, 2014, 230 pages Aşırı otomobil kullanımına bağlı olan trafik sıkışıklığı, enerji bağımlılığı ve hava kirliliği problemleri dikkate alınarak, farklı ulaşım alternatifleri sürdürülebilir kentsel ulaşımı sağlamak üzere gündeme gelmiştir. Özellikle bazı Avrupa ülkelerinde, hiçbir kirlilik yaratmayan ve kaynakları ve yol kapasitesini asgari seviyede kullanan bisiklet kullanımı kentsel ulaşım için sürdürülebilir bir alternatif olarak ortaya çıkmıştır, ve bunun yanında, son zamanlarda paylaşımlı bisiklet sistemleri bu sürece olumlu katkı yapmıştır. Kentsel alanda insanları bir istasyondan bisiklet alıp sonrasında herhangi başka bir istasyona bırakmasına cesaretlendiren, belli sayıda bisiklet istasyonunu sunan paylaşımlı bisiklet sistemleri bunun ötesinde bisikletin kentsel ulaşım aracı olarak kulanılmasını sağlar. Sistem günümüzde Avrupa’da, Asya’da, ve Kuzey ve Güney Amerika’da çok sayıda örneği bulunmaktadır. Türkiye’de de son zamanlarda birçok kent bu sistemi başlatmayı planlarken, bazı kentlerde bu sistem başlamıştır. Bu araştırma, paylaşımlı bisiklet sistemi uygulamalarındaki planlama ve işletme yaklaşımlarını analiz etmektedir. Bu yaklaşımdaki dünya genelindeki deneyimler incelenmiştir, ve dünyadaki en iyi uygulamalar, bu sistemlerin bazı başarılı planlama ve uygulama kriterlerini ortaya çıkarmak üzerine bir bakış açısıyla vi araştırılacaktır. Kayseri, Konya ve İstanbul’daki paylaşımlı bisiklet sistemlerinin ilk üç örneği değerlendirilecektir. Temel amaçlar, Türkiye’deki paylaşımlı bisiklet sistemlerinin güncel deneyimlerini daha iyi anlamayı sağlamak, şimdiye kadar uygulanan sistemlerin güçlü ve zayıf yanlarını ortaya çıkarmak, ve gelecekteki sistemlerin planlama, uygulama ve işletmesi için politika önerileri sağlamaktır. Anahtar Kelimeler: Paylaşımlı bisiklet sistemi, bisiklete binme, sürdürülebilir ulaşım, planlama. vii DEDICATION To My Dear Fiancée… viii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I could not write this thesis without the people who did not hesitate to support, guide, encourage and help me. In my modest acknowledgment, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to all of them. I wish to express my deepest gratitude to my supervisor, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ela Babalık Sutcliffe for her guidance, advice, criticism, encouragement and insight throughout the study. Additionally, I would like to emphasize my special thanks to my supervisor for the thesis editing and corrections. I am very grateful to all the people that I met in Konya, Kayseri and İstanbul during thesis process. Bekir Ceylan, Mehmet Yaşar, Mehmet Koyuncu from Konya, Ömer Demirdirek and Çağdaş Cingöz from Kayseri, and Ömer Kaya from İstanbul are sincerely acknowledged for their contributions. I would like to thank Assoc. Prof Dr. Hüseyin Çağatay Keskinok, Assoc. Prof Dr. Mehmet Adnan Barlas, and Assoc. Prof Dr. Ela Babalık Sutcliffe for their comments and participation. I also would like to thank my family for the support during my whole Master’s study and thesis process. Finally, I gratefully express my special thanks to my dear fiancée, Büşra Durmaz, for her heart and soul, and endless encouragement and support all the time. It was impossible to complete this thesis without her in my life. ix TABLE OF CONTENTS PLAGIARISM ....................................................................................................... iii ABSTRACT ........................................................................................................... iv ÖZ ........................................................................................................................... vi DEDICATION ..................................................................................................... viii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ...................................................................................... ix TABLE OF CONTENTS ........................................................................................ x LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................... xiii LIST OF FIGURES ............................................................................................... xv CHAPTERS 1.INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................ 1 2.UNSUSTAINABLE GROWTH OF URBAN TRANSPORT AND THE INCREASING IMPORTANCE OF BIKE-SHARING SYSTEMS AS AN URBAN TRANSPORT ALTERNATIVE .............................................................. 7 2.1. The Concept of Sustainability .................................................................. 7 2.2. Urban Transport and Sustainability ........................................................ 11 2.3. Unsustainable Growth of Urban Transport: Automobile Dependence ... 14 2.3.1. How the Automobile was Inserted to Our Lives and Shaped Urban Structure ............................................................................................. 15 2.3.2. Why Car Dependency is Unsustainable? ........................................ 20 2.4. Sustainable Solutions for Car Dependency ............................................ 26 2.4.1. Restrictions on Automobile Use ...................................................... 31 2.4.2. Improving Public Transport, Walking, and Cycling ....................... 35 x 2.5. Planning and Implementation of Bicycle as a Sustainable Transport Mode …………………………………………………………………………. 37 2.5.1. The Rise of Cycling, Its Benefits, and Planning-Infrastructural Measures ........................................................................................................ 39 2.6. An Innovative Program to Improve Cycling: Bike-Sharing Systems .... 50 2.6.1. History of Bike-sharing: Three Generations ................................... 56 2.6.2. Benefits and Effects of the System .................................................. 63 2.6.3. Costs and Challenges ....................................................................... 67 2.6.4.